But the four-minute video work is not a rant against religion; rather it documents the artist's life as a refugee.

"The whole video is about the loss of identity," Murayati told the Herald.

Murayati, who fled Iraq in 1991 to escape Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds, is one of 53 finalists in this year's Blake Prize for religious art, which were announced today.

The $20,000 Blake Prize received more than 1100 entries this year.

Advertisement

Other finalist artworks include an image of a body behind slabs of meat, rubber thongs, a carved loaf of ciabatta bread and the word "hope" spelt out with fairy lights and eggshells.

Award-winning indigenous artist Danie Mellor is also a finalist with Bulluru Storywater, which features an image of a skull, while Julie Rrap's Walking on Water photograph features a pair of women's feet encased in ice stilettos.

The winner of Australia's top prize for religious art will be announced on November 8, with the finalists exhibited at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill.

Now in its 61st year, the Blake Prize has attracted controversy.

In 2007, a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Muslim burqa and a holographic image of Osama bin Laden turning into Jesus Christ prompted the then prime minister, John Howard, to label the works insulting and devoid of artistic merit.

Last year, the provocative Brisbane artist Luke Roberts created three depictions of the crucifixion of Christ: in one, the lesbian academic Jodie Taylor kneels at the feet of a Christ figure played by Tobin Saunders, better known as the drag queen Vanessa Wagner.

Another photo featured an intersex woman clad only in a pink G-string and nipple tassles adopting the crucifixion pose.

Certainly, in the past 12 months there have been a number of controversies involving religion, including gay marriage and violent protests over an anti-Islamic film.

The chairman of the Blake Prize, Rod Pattenden, said this year's judges – the academics Felicity Fenner and Roland Boer and the artist Hossein Valamanesh – had steered clear of provocative entries.

"There were works that address current social issues but didn't make the final cut," he said.

"The judges this year were looking for some depth and some engagement with spirituality.

"Usually works that are simply about current issues tend to lose their impact after a short amount of time."

The Blake Prize was established in 1951 to find art to decorate churches.

Murayati's video may seem an odd choice for a church vestry, but Dr Pattenden said the art prize took a broad approach to religious art.

"I'm a minister of religion and I would put that in my church, yes," he said.